It is so dehumanizing to me, when I think of Joseph's brothers selling him because of the deep jealously they harbored against him. It makes me think of the ways life has become so cheap in our society. Everything, every person seems to have a price and this little regard for the lives of the most vulnerable or "different". Values are negotiated as if they were money. Promises are made to be broken.

Why do we "sell out"? Is it because we envy another or like Joseph's brothers have jealousy in our hearts towards someone? It exploring this question in my own life, I ask myself these questions:

Am I a jealous person?

What motivates me in life?

Am I self-centered or other centered?

Do I seek to know the truth about myself?

Have I ever "sold anyone out"?

Why is our culture prone to compromising the time-tried, Scripture-based values we have embraced in the past? Perhaps because:

Have I gradually assimilated anti-Christian values from TV, from our education system, from blockbuster movies that influenced me without my knowing it?

Is Political Correctness has become my only value?

Have I chosen convenience to shortchange my call to sacrifice and courtesy; have I chosen to look out for #1 in everything I say and do?

The story of Joseph and his Technicolor Dream Coat seems to have brought some great questions to light for me today. My prayer is "Lord,help me to know myself and help me to live by Your values. With Your grace, I want to be faithful to you. Amen."